ESPN needs to chill

'I am disturbed'

'Outweighs all other factors'

The destiny of a large collection of property and art belonging to the family of the last German emperor has finally been decided after 100 years of uncertainty that persisted throughout some of the largest events in 20th-century Europe. The story centers around the Hohenzollerns, the royal family of Prussia that included Kaiser Wilhelm II […] The post 100-year Dispute Finally Settles Looting of Last German Emperor–by Building New Museum Collection appeared first on Good News Network.

Books Wind and Truth Reread Wind and Truth Reread: Chapters 72 and 73 Syl saves the day, Nale is wrong, Shallan and co. come up with a plan… By Paige Vest, Lyndsey Luther, Drew McCaffrey | Published on June 23, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share Happy reread Monday, Cosmere chickens! This week we start off with a rare and exciting Syl POV section following Szeth winning the Lightweaver Honorblade, followed by Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain taking some time to strategize in the Spiritual Realm, and finally a very illuminating Szeth flashback. There’s Cosmere info, character progression, and plot movement galore, so let’s dive in! The book has been out long enough that most of you will hopefully have finished, and as such, this series shall now function as a re-read rather than a read-along. That means there will be spoilers for the end of the book (as well as full Cosmere spoilers, so beware if you aren’t caught up on all Cosmere content). Paige’s Commentary: Plot Arcs We all love Syl POVs, yes? Well chapter 72 is titled “Statistically Dangerous” and it opens with a Syl POV! We’re still at the Lightweaver monastery and Syl—full-sized—stands beside Kaladin as she looks at the acolytes who had been “posing” as different Shalashes during the contest. Szeth could easily have killed an innocent acolyte while trying to locate the Honorbearer, which is a pretty awful thing for the Honorbearer to have allowed—setting the acolytes up for such a grim fate. So it’s good thing that Syl and Szeth realized the truth before he stuck his Blade through the eye of an innocent. Szeth doesn’t want to kill anymore, though he knows he needs to, so imagine what killing an innocent acolyte would have done to him. Moss was a jerk. Back to our lovely Sylphrena, who leaves the monastery with Szeth and Kaladin. She smiles sweetly at Nale, who just looks back at her, though he does seem angry, she notes. Szeth places the Lightweaver Honorblade with the others and Nightblood quietly asks it to dull itself. It’s very cool that the Blade will dull itself at Nightblood’s request—that Nightblood is communicating with the Honorblades at all is a fascinating development. (I love what comes of this by the way…) BUT… SYL. Back to Syl. Geez, Paige. Focus! Kaladin asks Szeth how he figured out the riddle and he says he had the blessings of the spren. Nale glares at Syl again and she perks up even more. She’s so petty and I am here for it. Yeah, I helped him, you grouchy jerk! That’s what I imagine her thinking, anyway. *high fives Syl* She keeps going back in her mind to the Honorbearer using the acolytes to hold the illusions, which was totally unnecessary. She feels that her brain is sometimes full of silly ideas, but… she recalls what Moss said to Szeth when he entered the monastery: To win this test… you must choose a version of me, strike with your Blade through the eye, and kill me. Then you must escape my monastery with my Blade. Syl realizes that it’s not over, they must escape! But who must they escape, since the acolytes are all coming out of a trance-like state and happy for it. Then she remembers more, forcing her brain to focus. Twenty-nine of those standing here are innocuous; one of those standing here is deadly. Syl grabs Kaladin, not “barely touches him,” but fully grabs him and tells him that one of the acolytes was going to try to kill Szeth. Kaladin, of course, believes her immediately and summons her as a spear—which is cool as hell because we get to see her POV as the Sylspear! She can see through Kal’s eyes, kind of. She is aware of things and it’s not his awareness. She can still see what’s going on, as a matronly woman summons a Blade to strike Szeth down from behind. Kaladin ends the assailant with the Sylspear and everyone scatters. Nale, jerk that he is, insists that Kaladin helping is cheating. Szeth takes the woman’s Blade after she disappears and names it the Truthwatcher Honorblade. Szeth looks to Kaladin, who looks to Syl… who is a bit flaky, as Syl sometimes is, but eventually gets to the point and explains what she’d realized earlier. Kaladin turns on Nale, who knew all about it, obviously. Nale says that they need to know that Szeth is capable of the difficult challenge he’ll face after his pilgrimage. He also states that the rules have been violated by Szeth “receiving” Kaladin’s help with this latest challenge. Szeth asks Nale what rules he’s talking about, and Nale claims that “the rules of pilgrimage” have been broken. But Pozen had specifically told Szeth in Shadesmar that there are no rules for this challenge because if there were, he couldn’t be attacked by two Honorbearers at a time, nor outside the boundaries of the monasteries. Both Shadesmar and the outside of the Lightweaver monastery were outside those stated boundaries. Szeth explains this, and respectfully tells Nale that there are no rules for this pilgrimage. After a moment, Nale ADMITS that he is wrong and that Szeth is right. Wowza, and wowza again. Syl isn’t satisfied, however. She asks Nale if that’s it and when he asks her what more she wants, she starts toward him until Kaladin shakes his head at her. She doesn’t go after Nale but asks where the tenth Honorblade is, since they possess six and need to visit three more monasteries. Nale states that the Windrunner Honorblade has been corrupted by Odium and that “the traitor, Vyre” is now in possession of it. I find it odd that Nale calls Moash a traitor since he has allowed his Skybreakers to join Odium’s cause. So why is he there messing up Kaladin’s therapy if he’s supporting Odium? Jerk. Szeth says that he appreciates both Kaladin’s and Syl’s help before catching up with Nale as they continue their journey. Kaladin is frustrated, but Syl is thinking about how she can feel her toes. Silly spren. *chuckle* But Kaladin has a point when he says that Nale claims to follow the law but changes his mind or just walks away when confronted with a logical inconsistency. Yeah, I know people like that. You point out that they’re wrong and they either come up with an excuse for it or just ignore you. Totes infuriating, Kaladin. Totes. Syl tells Kaladin that she thinks Nale is as broken, maybe more so, as Taln or Ash. I think he’s just a jerk. Then Kaladin, talking of how much time is left before the contest, or how little, rather, realizes he’s not going to find Ishar in time for him to help Dalinar. Seriously, Kaladin… you actually thought that would work? Oh, my sweet summer child. That was never going to work. He realizes that Wit was right when he said Kaladin wouldn’t be back in time for the contest. Syl confirms that yes, Wit was right, but that there is a purpose for Kaladin here, and that Wit said that, too. She thinks that restoring Ishar might be his important task spoken of by the Wind, but Kaladin confesses that he’s been worrying more about Szeth. “Syl, it’s taking me over again. I went from being annoyed by him to hurting over how incapable I am of helping him. Just like with Bridge Four… I start feeling isolated, like I will be the only one who survives, when everyone else withers away…” Poor Kaladin, he doesn’t realize that he needs to protect, as Syl tells him, but not make it his whole persona. Just as she needs to live for herself and still help Kaladin (his words, not hers). Kaladin recognizes the need for balance, saying that he needs to find a way to help without becoming obsessed. Obsessed. I feel attacked. I need to have plants at the office but not be obsessed. Hmm… can’t help being obsessed, Kaladin, sorry not sorry. And then Kaladin tells Syl that she’s brilliant, incredible. She had been waiting for him to say that, though she reminds herself not to do it just for him but because it’s what she wants. POV SHIFT! Shallan—WHEE! SHALLAN! I’ve missed her, what can I say? Again, sorry not sorry: I love Shallan! And she’s currently in a recreation—an enclave, they’re calling it—of her rooms at the Sebarial warcamp at the Shattered Plains. The others are discussing what will happen when they leave the Spiritual Realm while Shallan is seething at not realizing that killing the Ghostbloods in the Spiritual Realm will be nearly impossible, even with anti-Light. Glys tells Renarin that the anti-Light might kill a Radiant’s spren, or seriously wound them, but that it won’t hurt the person like it would in the Physical Realm. They chat for a few minutes and Shallan gruffly reminds herself to not get distracted from saving the world by the boys’ flirting, which is so completely adorable, I can’t stand it. *squee* She retreats to a doorway into another room and tells Pattern that those two “are way too distracted.” *snort* And I must quote Pattern here! “I have nothing at all to say about a budding young Radiant being distracted from important events by romantic dalliances.” Again… so adorable! *heart eyes* Then Shallan starts thinking about Adolin and asks Pattern if there’s any way to know if he’s safe. Pattern says he doesn’t know, and Shallan thinks it’s silly how she misses him because she’s probably only been in the Spiritual Realm about half a day or so. *lulz* Too bad she doesn’t have one of Navani’s time fabrials; she could use a watch right about now. Then she gets back to business, concerned about Mraize taking Honor’s form. And she again wonders about Iyatil, and what she’s plotting. What she’s plotting? My dear, she’s just distracting you, trying to make you think that you’re fracturing, that Formless is really a thing again. Don’t let her freak you out! *ahem* I wasn’t shouting as I typed, I swear—Radiant’s honor. Also, Pattern makes a funny comment about graphs. Didja miss it? DIDJA? Shallan considers the anti-Light knife and the possibility of killing spren with it. She asks the others if they’ve ever seen Mraize’s spren and Rlain says that Tumi has an impression of the spren watching from outside, but notes that in the Spiritual Realm it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t want to be found. “Particularly a spren.” So it’s unlikely that she’ll be able to just kill Mraize’s spren in order to attack him more effectively. Then she considers leaving his spren alone and just wounding him badly enough “that he can’t wait out the anti-Light evaporating from him” because, as Glys says, taking in Stormlight while one has anti-Light in them would be deadly. I wonder if Mraize would explode? What do you think, Sanderfans? If it happens and I just don’t remember, you can totally spoil it for me in the comments. I don’t mind. *wink* Shallan wishes they could get the drop on Mraize and Rlain suggests sending an avatar into a vision and watching from the outside. Shallan agrees that this is a good plan as Lightweaving shouldn’t draw attention to the spren. It’s apparently “quiet.” While Renarin and Rlain consult with their respective Spren, Shallan goes back to the whole, “am I going to kill everyone I get close to?” train of thought, which, admittedly, gets a bit old, as much as I like Shallan. Pattern reassures her that she doesn’t kill everyone she gets close to and that she’s a sincere person, which is what attracted him in the first place. “You will not hurt the people around you. Not intentionally, and not any more than any other human. The statistics Formless gives you are the bad kind of lies—the lies that look at a truth and twist it into something worse. He says that he and Testament trust her, that they love her, and damned if that doesn’t make me all emotional! Shallan asks how he got so good at talking to humans and he says that he listens to her… and does the opposite. *giggle* Shallan returns to the others and they decide not to go into the next vision, instead sending in a Lightweaving. And they’ll watch. Whew… finally to the plan. Let’s get on with it! Later. First, though, we have another chapter to tackle… Chapter 73 is a Szeth flashback taking place sixteen years ago. It’s titled “The Luxury of Simplicity” and starts with Szeth sparring. He wins the match (because of course he does). Only, he’s just won against the monastery swordmaster, who was favored to one day hold the Honorblade. Szeth had been there for two years at this point and over a year since he’d cried himself to sleep, missing his mother. Ouch, Brandon. Why must you stab our hearts with memories like this? Pozen, the Honorbearer at the monastery, emerges and tells Szeth that he is now the swordmaster and that he is impressed with everything about Szeth, except for his troubling weakness with Elsecalling. Then he says he’s prepared a hunt for Szeth; the first clue will be atop the seventh spire. Szeth finds nothing on the building where he looked for the first clue, the seventh building down from a tavern named The Spire. The man who owned the home he’d searched thinks he might mean the “Seven’s spire” so Szeth thinks it might be a spire on a street named the Seven. He goes to the street in question and heads toward the tallest building, which is a church. He finds a crystal patch of shingles atop the building with a slip of paper beneath it containing the next clue: The Eastern Wind. Then he encounters Sivi, the Willshaper Honorbearer, who apparently visits the city often. Uh-huh… randy little Sivi. Szeth tells her he has been given an urgent task, but she already knows, producing all of the clues that had been left for Szeth. Szeth is unsettled, saying he must find his own way, though he eventually takes the papers. Sivi wants to chat about Szeth’s training, as she’s heard he made Swordmaster. And she speaks directly and openly, telling him: “Pozen wants acolytes who are quick to obey, slow to question.” And we all know how quick Szeth is to obey and how he rarely questions. But she shoehorns out of him the admission that Pozen is not the swordsman he used to be at nearly sixty. Sivi says that Pozen is wise and that experience is also valuable. Then she reveals that the Windrunner Honorbearer is a “problem” to Truth and for the defense of Shinovar. Dun-dun-dunnn… Szeth states that he hasn’t heard the Voice in a while and Sivi says he’s been busy so Szeth asks if he’d get to know what the Voice is and what is going on if he were to become an Honorbearer. Sivi asks if he wants to know, so he ponders that question. Then she mentions that she talks with his father and Szeth understands. And is horrified. Poor Szeth, he’s just so… so pure. So Sivi asks if he’ll go on a pilgrimage in order to challenge the Windrunner Honorbearer, which would mean visiting all of the monasteries and training in all the Surges before defeating the Windrunner in a duel without powers. This could theoretically take years, even a decade or longer. He decides to do it if she’ll take him in first and train him with her Blade. She accepts this, and tells him before she goes that Pozen is using him. He thinks she is, too, and says that he’s doing this for answers, to finally know what the Voice is. He doesn’t really want to know, poor guy. *sigh* Lyndsey’s Commentary: Character Arcs & Maps It’s getting harder and harder to tell which Heralds are in the arches, thanks to the degradation as the chapters progress! I can still make them out though, and in chapter 72 we’ve got Jezrien, Battah (x2), and Palah, in that order. Jezrien’s almost certainly here for Syl and Kaladin, as their POV is prevalent in this chapter. Battah’s attributes are Wise/Careful and her role is Counsellor, and both Syl and Pattern are displaying these attributes in this chapter, guiding and counseling their respective Radiants. Palah, patron of the Truthwatchers, is likely here for Rlain and Renarin. Chapter 73’s arch features Ishar, Kalak (x2), and Vedel. Ishar is most likely here since he’s the Voice, and hence influencing all of Szeth’s actions. Kalak and Vedel are a bit hazier on their symbolism… Kalak’s attributes are Resolute/Builder and his role is Maker. I don’t see much of this in this chapter, except for perhaps Szeth’s father. But Neturo doesn’t feature much in this chapter, so that connection is a bit of a reach. Vedel is even more nebulous; her attributes are Loving/ Healing and her role is Healer. I suppose an argument could be made for Sivi being in a loving role, as she’s being compassionate towards Szeth, but that’s even more of a reach… Nightblood […]Nightblood quietly asked it if it could become dull for their travels. Watching Nightblood slowly become more and more… well, human is a fascinating character arc that I absolutely didn’t expect to find in this book. While he may primarily be interacting with “inanimate” objects, he’s doing so with progressively more empathy and consideration as the book continues. (You know, this brings up an interesting thought that I’m going to kick over to Drew: Are the Honorblades spren, like regular Shardblades are? We saw their creation in a previous chapter and didn’t have any indication that they were created from living spren, but they can communicate, so…) Syl Stupid brain. It couldn’t let go of ideas sometimes, and other times it was so full of silly ideas, it couldn’t pick one. Is Syl just flighty, or does she have a little bit of ADHD going, with a tendency to hyperfocus or dissociate? Kaladin/Syl He blinked, took it in.And trusted her. This is particularly poignant and necessary to note considering Szeth’s “relationship” with his own spren (and I put relationship in quotes because let’s face it, what Szeth and his spren have is barely a relationship). Kaladin and Syl have come a long way, but they were never as cold and distant with one another as 12124 is. Now, one could make the argument that this is just how Highspren are, and that Honorspren (and the other varieties that form the other Nahel bonds) are fundamentally different. We certainly haven’t seen any Highspren acting differently… yet. “But more and more, I find myself worrying only about Szeth. Too much. Syl, it’s taking me over again. I went from being annoyed by him to hurting over how incapable I am of helping him. Just like with Bridge Four … I start feeling isolated, like I will be the only one who survives, when everyone else withers away…” There’s that depression rearing its ugly head again. But with Syl’s help, Kal fights back against it. She’s his support against the darkness… and he’s HER reminder as well: But don’t do it just for him, she told herself. Do it because it’s what you want. Credit: Dragonsteel Nale “When Pozen drew me into Shadesmar…” Szeth whispered, “I asked about the rules. He said that there are no set rules for this challenge. If there were, I could not have been attacked by two Honorbearers at a time. Correct?”Nale did not reply. Interesting. Was Nale purposely trying to mislead Szeth? I find it difficult to believe that someone as old as he is would accidentally misconstrue this, so we must assume that it was on purpose. But why, then? Why would Nale betray his own insistence on rules/law in order to mislead Szeth? His end goal is important, yes, but it’s been established that Nale’s strict adherence to law goes deeper than just a belief. It’s religious. The man’s a zealot, “lawful neutral” to a T. Kaladin puts it well later: Nale is infuriating. He doesn’t actually follow the law—he changes his perceptions, motivations, and even morals at the drop of a sphere. Szeth “I do appreciate your help. Both of you.” Wow. Szeth really is making progress, despite Nale’s presence. He never would have thanked someone for their help earlier in the series; he wouldn’t have thought himself worthy of it. Renarin/Shallan “We kill other humans all the time,” Shallan said, with a shrug.“We don’t!” Renarin said, then blushed. “I mean, I don’t […] Interesting dichotomy between the two of them here. Shallan has reached a point where the idea of killing people is completely a non-issue. She’s blasé about it, mentioning it in an off-hand way, while Renarin is horrified at the prospect. “Formless speaks of each person I’ve killed, people who took me in and trusted me,” Shallan whispered. “It feels… horrible when I see it in its whole context, Pattern. Mother, Father, Testament, Tyn… Next, Mraize. How many people who get close to me will I end up killing? Why does it happen so often to me?” Well. Maybe not completely blasé, then. “You are not statistically dangerous to those around you. Only to those who try to kill you.” This is a great point by Pattern, and I love how supportive he’s being in attempting to help Shallan. Renarin “Yeah,” Renarin said. “I don’t know if I refused just so I could resist what was expected, or if becoming an ardent felt like giving up on my father’s hopes for me when I was young.” Renarin is constantly thinking, self-reflecting and trying to understand everything—including himself. “We always say things like that, Shallan, those of us on the outside. It’s true enough. I don’t have to conform, become a warrior and a highprince the way everyone expects of my father’s sons. Yet I worry that in our zeal, we forget that merely because something is more standard or conventional, that doesn’t make it bad.” A fair point, and one that a lot of people on the “outside” could stand to hear and learn. It’s hard to accept the “normal” when the normal has spent so long pushing you out. Szeth There’s a LOT to go over in regards to Szeth in chapter 73! Here, he didn’t need to think—he could merely train. He liked how simple his life was at last. He’s in a much more stable place now, since he no longer has to make decisions. Training is pleasant for him… but it’s looking like that stability isn’t going to last long. (Of course… because things can never go well for Szeth.) Szeth’s still struggling with the transient nature of ethics and morality, and who can blame him? But Sivi opens his eyes to some truths. He’s been acting like a child with a very basic understanding of right and wrong, and he finally realizes this. If he was wrong about religion, wouldn’t he want to know? Yes. Yes, he would. And wouldn’t he be glad to have been corrected? In a moment of deep reflection, he realized his errors. It wasn’t their fault for using nuance; it was his for not wanting to see it. This is yet another great turning point for him, in a long line of turning points. Drew’s Commentary: Invested Arts & Theories “The Windrunner Honorblade has been corrupted,” Nale called from ahead. He turned and glided up into the air instead of climbing the steps.  “Our king, Jezrien, was killed by the Windrunner traitor, Vyre. Odium took his Honorblade unto himself in that moment, corrupting it.” This is a sneaky little addition, here. Nothing we’ve seen previously has indicated that the Honorblade itself was any different, just that Moash was using it for nefarious purposes. I’m a little surprised that we haven’t had a scene of him summoning it from red mist or something, because Sanderson is usually pretty clear with the color red as a signifier of corrupted Investiture. I also wonder what the utility of a corrupted Honorblade truly is. We get so little of Moash in this book, and very little from the POV of him actually using his Honorblade in Rhythm of War, that there just aren’t many clues to latch onto. What’s the purpose of Odium corrupting it? Does Moash draw Investiture directly from Odium, now, providing himself with Heraldic powers? We don’t see him use the superspeed that Nale and Taln demonstrate, at least not in an obvious manner. Moash remains a frustratingly open-ended conundrum. “Assuming that is true,” Renarin said, glancing at her, “could we bring things with us? Re-form them from their spiritual aspect? What could we create if we mastered this place?” This is the sort of question I used to ask Brandon when I saw him out on tour—in the yesteryear when he actually went on tour—so it made me laugh a bit when I read this. Of course, in typical Shallan fashion, she brushes right by it and we’re left without an answer. That’s, oddly, frustratingly emblematic of these Spiritual Realm scenes. Even though they’re largely used as a vehicle for infodumping, a lot of the actual info being dumped feels strangely pedestrian to me. I want more of the craziness, more of the mechanics, more of the wonder. (Why, yes, I did enjoy the hell out of the Navani/Raboniel chapters in Rhythm of War. Why do you ask?) Anyway, this concept of potentially taking Spiritual items and manifesting them via Investiture in the Spiritual Realm brings me back to the problem of bodies for Cognitive Shadows. I’ve already touched on this a few times over the course of this reread, but we have yet to see the actual mechanism for it. It’s certain that it can work a few different ways—there’s a strong theory about how it could work on Scadrial, for instance, with Kelsier and the eye spike stapling his Cognitive Shadow to an existing body and his Identity shaping the body afterward—and in Wind and Truth we find out that Heralds have their bodies created from Investiture. So, theoretically, I imagine Renarin’s idea here could work. It would probably take an awful lot of very dangerous study, trial, and error to wrangle such control over the Spiritual Realm, so anyone short of Shards will have their work cut out for them. And finally, before I dip out for this week, I have to address my colleague’s comment above, re: spren and Honorblades. It’s an interesting question, and I think the answer is one of degrees. If we take the definition of “spren” as Investiture that has gained self-awareness, then I think the answer must be yes and no. The Honorblades have some kind of awareness, but as far as we can tell, they don’t have the volition of all other types of spren. However, given what we’re seeing with Nightblood, I have to wonder if the Honorblades aren’t becoming more aware over time. Were they capable of communicating (in whatever rudimentary form) four thousand years ago? I suspect not. So there’s my pseudo non-answer. Might be a great question to slip into a future Q&A with Brandon, though! We’ll be keeping an eye on the comment sections of posts about this article on various social media platforms and may include some of your comments/speculation (with attribution) on future weeks’ articles! Keep the conversation going, and PLEASE remember to spoiler-tag your comments on social media to help preserve the surprise for those who haven’t read the book yet. See you next Monday with our discussion of chapters 74, 75, and 76![end-mark] The post <i>Wind and Truth</i> Reread: Chapters 72 and 73 appeared first on Reactor.

News Locus Awards Here Are the Winners of the 2025 Locus Awards Congratulations to the winners! By Molly Templeton | Published on June 23, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share This past weekend, the Locus Science Fiction Foundation announced the winners of the 2025 Locus Awards during the Locus Awards Weekend, which featured readings, panels, programs, workshops, and more. Author Gail Carriger was the Locus Awards MC; Sarah Gailey and Tochi Onyebuchi were guests of honor. Kemi Ashing-Giwa was the weekend’s featured local author, and Stephanie Law the featured local artist. The Locus Awards are chosen by open public ballot. The finalists were announced in May. Congratulations to the winners! Science Fiction Novel WINNER: The Man Who Saw Seconds, Alexander Boldizar (Clash) Rakesfall, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom; Solaris) The Mercy of Gods, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK) The Bezzle, Cory Doctorow (Tor; Ad Astra UK) The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, Malka Older (Tordotcom) Kinning, Nisi Shawl (Tor) Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US) Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom; Tor UK) Space Oddity, Catherynne M. Valente (Saga; Corsair UK) Absolution, Jeff VanderMeer (MCD; Fourth Estate UK) Fantasy Novel WINNER: A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK) I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons, Peter S. Beagle (Saga) The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey; Hodderscape UK) The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom) The Bright Sword, Lev Grossman (Viking; Del Rey UK) Asunder, Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom) Somewhere Beyond the Sea, TJ Klune (Tor; Tor UK) The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohamed (Solaris UK) Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan (Orbit US; Orbit UK) The City in Glass, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom) Horror Novel WINNER: Bury Your Gays, Chuck Tingle (Nightfire; Titan UK) Cuckoo, Gretchen Felker-Martin (Nightfire; Titan UK) House of Bone and Rain, Gabino Iglesias (Mulholland; Titan UK) The Angel of Indian Lake, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan UK) Incidents Around the House, Josh Malerman (Del Rey) The Wilding, Ian McDonald (Gollancz) Forgotten Sisters, Cynthia Pelayo (Thomas & Mercer) Model Home, Rivers Solomon (MCD; Merky UK) Horror Movie, Paul Tremblay (Morrow; Titan UK) The Underhistory, Kaaron Warren (Viper UK) Young Adult Novel WINNER: Moonstorm, Yoon Ha Lee (Delacorte; Solaris UK) Sleep Like Death, Kalynn Bayron (Bloomsbury US; Bloomsbury UK) Blood Justice, Terry J. Benton-Walker (Tor Teen; Hodderscape UK) Rest in Peaches, Alex Brown (Page Street YA) Fall of the Iron Gods, Olivia Chadha (Erewhon) The Feast Makers, H.A. Clarke (Erewhon) A Tempest of Tea, Hafsah Faizal (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) The Maid and the Crocodile, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet; Hot Key UK) Sheine Lende, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido) Compound Fracture, Andrew Joseph White (Peachtree Teen; Daphne Press UK) First Novel WINNER: Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia UK) The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader; Sceptre UK) The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands, Sarah Brooks (Flatiron; Weidenfeld & Nicolson) Sargassa, Sophie Burnham (DAW) Lady Eve’s Last Con, Rebecca Fraimow (Solaris UK) The Book of Love, Kelly Link (Random House; Ad Astra UK) The West Passage, Jared Pechaček (Tordotcom) The Spice Gate, Prashanth Srivatsa (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK) Womb City, Tlotlo Tsamaase (Erewhon) Hammajang Luck, Makana Yamamoto (Gollancz; Harper Voyager US 2025) Novella WINNER: What Feasts at Night, T. Kingfisher (Nightfire) Navigational Entanglements, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom) Mislaid in Parts Half-Known, Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom) The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom) The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler (Tordotcom) She Who Knows, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW) Countess, Suzan Palumbo (ECW) Haunt Sweet Home, Sarah Pinsker (Tordotcom) The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain, Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom) The Brides of High Hill, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom) Novelette WINNER: “By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars,” Premee Mohamed (Strange Horizons 6/9/24) “A Stranger Knocks,” Tananarive Due (Uncanny 9-10/24) “I’m Not Disappointed Just Mad AKA The Heaviest Couch in the Known Universe,” Daryl Gregory (Reactor 11/20/24) “The River Judge,” S.L. Huang (Reactor 3/6/24) “Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!,” TJ Klune (In the Lives of Puppets) “The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea,” Naomi Kritzer (Asimov’s 9-10/24) “Another Girl Under the Iron Bell,” Angela Liu (Uncanny 9-10/24) “Encore,” Wole Talabi (Deep Dream: Science Fiction Exploring the Future of Art) “Joanna’s Bodies,” Eugenia Triantafyllou (Psychopomp 7/1/24) “Loneliness Universe,” Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 5-6/24) Short Story WINNER: “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole,” Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld 2/24) “The Wood at Midwinter,” Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury) “Autumn’s Red Bird,” Aliette de Bodard (Deep Dream: Science Fiction Exploring the Future of Art) “Five Views of the Planet Tartarus,” Rachael K. Jones (Lightspeed 1/24) “Parthenogenesis,” Stephen Graham Jones (Reactor 10/2/24) “The V*mpire,” PH Lee (Reactor 10/23/24) “Three Faces of a Beheading,” Arkady Martine (Uncanny 5-6/24) “The Night Birds,” Premee Mohamed (Northern Nights) “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is,” Nghi Vo (Uncanny 3/24) “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read,” Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed 5/24) Anthology WINNER: The Black Girl Survives in This One, Desiree S. Evans & Saraciea J. Fennell, eds. (Flatiron) The Inhumans and Other Stories: A Selection of Bengali Science Fiction, Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay, ed. (The MIT Press) The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 8, Neil Clarke, ed. (Night Shade) We Mostly Come Out at Night, Rob Costello, ed. (Running Press Teens) Deep Dream: Science Fiction Exploring the Future of Art, Indrapramit Das, ed. (The MIT Press) Northern Nights, Michael Kelly, ed. (Undertow) Egypt + 100, Ahmed Naji, ed. (Comma) The Crawling Moon, dave ring, ed. (Neon Hemlock) New Adventures in Space Opera, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Tachyon) Thyme Travellers: An Anthology of Palestinian Speculative Fiction, Sonia Sulaiman, ed. (Roseway) Collection WINNER: Lake of Souls, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK) Not a Speck of Light, Laird Barron (Bad Hand) Weird Black Girls, Elwin Cotman (Scribner) The History of the World Begins in Ice, Kate Elliott (Fairwood) Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions, Nalo Hopkinson (Tachyon) Kindling, Kathleen Jennings (Small Beer) You Like it Darker, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton) Buried Deep and Other Stories, Naomi Novik (Del Rey; Del Rey UK) Power to Yield and Other Stories, Bogi Takács (Broken Eye) Convergence Problems, Wole Talabi (DAW) Magazine WINNER: Clarkesworld Asimov’s Beneath Ceaseless Skies Fiyah khōréō Lightspeed Reactor Strange Horizons The Deadlands Uncanny Magazine Publisher (Tor Publishing Group recused itself from this category.) WINNER: Subterranean Press Angry Robot DAW Erewhon Gollancz Neon Hemlock Orbit Small Beer Press Solaris Tachyon Editor WINNER: Neil Clarke Ellen Datlow Diana Pho dave ring Jonathan Strahan Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas Sheree Renée Thomas E. Catherine Tobler Wendy N. Wagner Fran Wilde & Julian Yap Artist WINNER: Charles Vess Brom Rovina Cai Julie Dillon Kathleen Jennings Abigail Larson John Picacio Shaun Tan Michael Whelan Alyssa Winans Non-Fiction WINNER: Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction, Eugen Bacon, ed. (Bloomsbury Academic) This Is Not a Science Fiction Textbook, Mark Bould & Steven Shaviro (Goldsmiths) Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right, Jordan S. Carroll (University of Minnesota Press) The Book Blinders, John Clute (Norstrilia) Urban Fantasy: Exploring Modernity through Magic, Stefan Ekman (Lever) Capitalism: A Horror Story, Jon Greenaway (Repeater) Laozi’s Dao De Jing, Laozi & Ken Liu (Scribner; Apollo 2025) Track Changes, Abigail Nussbaum (Briardene) A History of Fans and Fandom, Holly Swinyard (White Owl) Star Trek: Open a Channel, Nana Visitor (Insight Editions) Illustrated and Art Book WINNER: The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle, art by Tom Kidd Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke, illustrated by Charles Vess (The Folio Society) The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, art by Nico Delort (Scholastic) R.U.R.: The Karel Čapek Classic, Kateřina Čupová, translated by Julie Nováková (Rosarium) Hell, Ink & Water: The Art of Mike Mignola, Scott Dunbier, ed., art by Mike Mignola (Philippe Labaune Gallery with IDW) Supernatural Tales from Japan, Lafcadio Hearn & Yei Theodora Ozaki, art by Sakyu (Tuttle) Undying Tales: Mythologies of Species on the Verge of Extinction, Stephanie Law (Eye of Newt) Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds & Realms, Adam Lee (Ten Speed) Frank Frazetta: An Artists’ Tribute, Marisa Lewis, ed. (3dtotal) Stone of Farewell, Tad Williams, art by Donato Giancola (Grim Oak) Special Award 2025: Celebrating Excellence in Genre Ignyte Awards [end-mark] The post Here Are the Winners of the 2025 Locus Awards appeared first on Reactor.

President Donald Trump floated the need for a “regime change” in Iran if the present regime fails to “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN.” “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” he wrote on TruthSocial on Sunday. “MIGA!!!” This is the first time Trump has floated regime change in Iran since Israel began striking the nation’s nuclear sites 10 days ago. The post came one day after the president announced the U.S. had dropped bombs on three major nuclear sites in Iran: Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. He addressed the nation Saturday night to discuss the historic move. The United States successfully destroyed Iran’s three key nuclear facilities, Trump reported to the nation. After announcing the U.S. strike on Iran, Trump said he hopes the American military’s service will no longer be necessary, but he emphasized that more strikes would follow if Iran doesn’t seek peace. “But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill,” Trump said. “Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.” The post ‘MIGA!’: Trump Floats Regime Change in Iran appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Putin to Iran FM: Sorry For Your Troubles. Say Hi To the Ayatollah.

In the twilight of the 19th century, something extraordinary coursed through the skies above the United States. Long before the Wright brothers conquered the air, strange cigar-shaped craft lit by powerful searchlights appeared in hundreds of reports across the nation. From California to New York, what came to be called the “phantom airships” confounded belief—yet were witnessed by thousands.  California, November 1896: The First Sightings  It began over Sacramento. On 17 November 1896, hundreds saw a brilliant light traversing the cloudy sky. Among them, George Scott, an assistant to the Secretary of State, climbed to the Capitol dome to get a closer look. Witnesses described a huge, dark object with lights and propellers. One man claimed to hear voices shouting down from the sky.  Five days later, the lights returned—this time over both Sacramento and San Francisco simultaneously. In San Francisco, panicked seals fled from the bright searchlight said to extend hundreds of feet. Reports flooded in from cities across California, including Los Angeles and San Diego. Then, by mid-December, the lights were gone.    Spring 1897: The Airship Flap Goes National  The second wave began in Nebraska on 2 February 1897 and swept eastward. Sightings surged through Kansas, Texas, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. By April, reports reached as far as New York. In all, over a thousand separate accounts emerged, chronicled in newspapers from coast to coast.  These weren’t brief flashes of light. Witnesses described huge vessels, sometimes with multiple lights, moving swiftly and often against the wind. In Milwaukee, a policeman watched four luminous objects dance overhead before vanishing into the night. Other sightings included descriptions of giant cigar-shaped crafts equipped with multiple propellers, bright beaming lights, and—curiously—crews seen through glass compartments.  Not Aliens, but People: Bizarrely Human Encounters  Unlike modern UFO lore, the airships’ supposed occupants were human. In Hot Springs, Arkansas, Constable John Sumpter reported meeting a bearded man who claimed to be travelling the country in an airship. The vessel, around 60 feet long, was grounded while companions filled water bags. The pilot offered the constables a ride. They declined.  Another tale, from Michigan, tells of airmen requesting coffee and egg sandwiches. They paid in Canadian quarters and used a hoisting scoop the size of a freight car. In Texas, an airship passenger introduced himself as “Smith” and requested tools and lubricants—declining to give a full name.  In Rockland, Texas, the interaction was similarly mundane. The crewman asked for bluestone, chisels, and oil, and politely declined any attempt to inspect the craft. He paid generously in cash and left as swiftly as he’d arrived. In Pine Lake, Michigan, a man was awoken by tapping on his window. Outside stood figures requesting a kettle of coffee and a corkscrew—leading him to joke they must be from Milwaukee.  The most infamous case came from Kansas rancher Alexander Hamilton. He claimed an airship lassoed one of his cows and carried it away. The next day, the animal’s remains were found 10 miles away. Hamilton produced affidavits to support his story, but it later emerged he had been part of a local storytelling club.  Yet not all the encounters were hoaxes. In several reports, witnesses described mechanical details that exceeded any contemporary invention. The interactions, however strange, were grounded in everyday language and actions, lending an odd authenticity to the accounts.    Aviation Before Flight: Technological Disparities  In 1897, powered flight didn’t exist. The Wright brothers’ breakthrough was still six years away. Yet witnesses described vessels hundreds of feet long, travelling at over 100 miles per hour, with searchlights and apparent control against the wind. At the time, no balloon or dirigible came remotely close to these feats.  Some believed the craft were prototypes built in secret. Names like Thomas Edison were floated so often he issued a statement denying involvement. Still, sceptics asked: what secret inventor would demonstrate their masterpiece in the dark, anonymously, and vanish without credit?  Others blamed mass hysteria. The late 19th century was the golden age of yellow journalism. With newspapers locked in fierce competition, sensationalism sold. Stories of airships offered irresistible copy. The sightings often aligned closely with where stories had appeared in print.  However, these explanations fall short when it comes to the consistency of reports and the credibility of certain witnesses. Some airship accounts included specific mechanical details, such as strange rotary systems and gondolas suspended by metal rods—far beyond what any contemporary inventor had revealed publicly.  Media, Memory, and Mystery  Though media exaggeration undoubtedly played a role, not all stories were fabrications. Some witnesses were lawmen, judges, or public servants. Their accounts, though odd, were consistent and detailed. The airship flap became not just a curiosity, but a national talking point—a reflection of America’s growing obsession with technology and mystery.  The airships were, in a sense, the first mass UFO sightings in American history. But unlike later incidents involving secrecy and government intervention, this was a populist mystery. Farmers, clerks, and constables were the storytellers, and the skies above them seemed open to wonders.  This open, democratic nature of the encounters also meant that belief—and disbelief—were shaped locally. In some communities, the sightings became a matter of civic pride; in others, a cause for ridicule. But either way, the airship tales had entered American folklore.  Legacy of the Phantom Fleet  By summer 1897, the airships disappeared as suddenly as they had arrived. No wreckage was ever found, no pilot stepped forward, and no confirmed photos were taken. Most historians conclude it was a complex blend of misidentifications, hoaxes, social anticipation—and a media landscape eager for spectacle.  Yet something more enduring lingers. The 1896–1897 wave helped set the pattern for all that would follow in UFO lore: sweeping waves of sightings, uncertain origins, sceptical media, and an enduring cultural fascination with the sky as a canvas for mystery.  What is perhaps most notable is how the story faded from mainstream memory. Unlike Roswell or Area 51, the airship flap left no institution or conspiracy in its wake—just newsprint, anecdotes, and unresolved questions. For this reason, it remains a purer mystery, unclouded by modern myth-making.  Whatever the airships were—or weren’t—they captured a moment in time when the boundary between science and story, between hope and hoax, was tantalisingly thin.  Sources and Refernces  Bullard, Thomas E. The Airship Wave of 1896–1897. Archives of the Impossible, Rice University, 2006.  Busby, Michael. Solving the 1897 Airship Mystery. Pelican Publishing, 2004.  Clark, Jerome. The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon from the Beginning. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1998.  Cohen, Daniel. The Great Airship Mystery: A UFO of the 1890s. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1981.  Danelek, J. Allan. The Great Airship of 1897: A Provocative Look at the Most Mysterious Aviation Event in History. Adventures Unlimited Press, 2009.  Selected articles from: Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Call, Dallas Morning News (1896–1897 newspaper archives). The post The Phantom Fleet: America’s Forgotten Sky Mystery of 1896–1897 appeared first on Anomalien.com.

In Friday’s online NPR piece “The story behind the arrest of 87-year-old veteran John Spitzberg at the Capitol,” Alina Hartounian, who edits and writes for NPR.org from Arizona, played up how a clip went viral on the Left of a protester getting arrested by Capitol Police next to his walker. NPR played up the feisty old man angle to an embarrassing extent. This is a standard stunt: Police tell you not to cross a line, so all the protesters who want to get arrested quickly (or slowly) violate it. The report began in medias res, the reporter striving to tell a compelling story of a sympathetic scene, as opposed to an objective report of a standard arrest. In the video, one officer wheels away John Spitzberg's rollator walker, while the other uses zip ties to bind his hands behind his back. The 87-year-old veteran is unsteady on his feet -- the result of several disabilities he suffers -- as the crowd applauds, cheers and chants, "We won't back down, we won't retreat!" Soon, the cheering turns to jeering and booing and chants of "Shame!" against the officers. The scene has been shared widely across social platforms and viewed millions of times, becoming a crystalizing moment for those protesting the Trump administration. Now back at a care home in Florida, Spitzberg told NPR he's ready for what's next. "I plan to be as active as I physically can be at my point in life and whatever the Veterans for Peace and the younger people who are activists, whatever they need, I'll do the best I can," he said. Video shows Spitzberg is wearing a shirt his group was sporting. It says "VETERANS AGAINST FASCISM." It also shows the cops gently treating him.  So what sort of veterans groups protest a military parade? Leftist ones, of course, though NPR settled for the description “anti-war.” There was no use of potential ideological labels: liberal, leftist, progressive, radical, socialist, or even pacifist. Veterans for Peace recently held a fast "for Gaza." Anti-war groups Veterans for Peace and About Face: Veterans Against the War organized last Friday's protest against America's peacetime military parade. It was held to mark the Army's 250th anniversary, but also coincided with President Trump's 79th birthday. The parade has drawn heavy criticism from protesters and politicians who saw it as a waste of resources and politicization of the U.S. Armed Forces. Hartounian cited the Capitol Police comment that protesters illegally crossed a police line while running toward the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Spitzberg said he crossed the barrier because he saw officers manhandling his fellow protesting veterans. "I just couldn't stand there behind those barricades while my fellow veterans were being pummeled," he said. Pummeled? Is that on video? The NPR story is anti-climactic: He was warned he would be arrested if he kept walking, he did and he was, without being mistreated. Capitol Police, whose officers were at the center of defending the Capitol against Jan. 6 rioters, said the heightened political threat environment means that the officers were on high alert. Needless to say, NPR gave Spitzberg far nicer treatment than the kind it meted out to those same January 6 rioters and protesters. As well as being a war veteran, Spitzberg is a veteran of seemingly every kind of left-wing protest movement on offer, though Hartounian was too kind to put an ideological label on the feisty old man who “will continue to stand for what he believes is right,” despite his frailty. This was far from his first protest. He has been arrested before, in Zuccotti Park in New York, where Occupy Wall Street protests railed against economic inequality in 2011 during the fallout from the Great Recession. And he stood at [an anti-pipeline protest at] Standing Rock in 2016, reported the Frontiersman in Alaska.....And Spitzberg says despite his health challenges, he will continue to stand for what he believes is right.